Ray Allen is one of the game’s greatest shooters, so it’s no surprise that he drew interest from plenty of teams in free agency, even as he’s set to enter what would be his 19th NBA season.
The problem for all of them is that Allen has yet to decide if he’s going to play at all this year, or simply retire instead.
The Cavaliers, thanks to Allen’s prior relationship in Miami with LeBron James (along with the team’s status as title contenders) have to be considered in the lead for his services, should he indeed choose to return. But others like the Clippers, Spurs, Wizards and Bulls have reached out, as did another team that would appear to be a long shot.
From Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:Bucks coach Jason Kidd said the team had sincere interest in bringing veteran Ray Allen back to the team during the past summer, but the former Bucks player was not inclined to return. ...
“We did contact Ray,” Kidd said. “He’s weighing his options to see where he wants to go. But we did have interest.” ...
“We thought he would be a good piece for us to try to get but he didn’t have any interest.”
Allen played the first six-plus seasons of his career with the Bucks before being traded to Seattle in the middle of his seventh, and was a key piece on the 2001 team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals.
But since he had similar runs with the Sonics and Celtics, Milwaukee doesn’t have the emotional pull necessary to lure Allen back -- especially to play with a young team that isn’t expected to come anywhere close to sniffing the playoffs.